A minimal room on a small budget: declutter first, paint once, then buy
A minimal room doesn't look expensive because of what's in it. It looks expensive because nothing is surplus. Clear out first, paint first, buy later.
To decorate a minimal room on a small budget, start by clearing out everything you don't use, then use paint as the best-value change to the room, with a three-colour palette of a main colour, a secondary colour and an accent. After that, buy the things you use every day, such as the mattress, storage and lighting, before any decorations. A minimal room looks good because its few things were chosen with intent, not because they're expensive.
A minimal room starts with a bin bag, not a shopping trolley
The beautiful minimal rooms in photos have one thing in common: a clear floor and clear table tops. No amount of money can buy that emptiness. You get it by taking things out. The good news is that this step is free, and sometimes you even get money back by selling things second-hand.
Clear out by category, not by room: all your clothes first, then books, then kitchen things, then charging cables and the boxes you kept just in case. Put everything in a category together first, and you'll see straight away that you own more glasses than the number of friends who have ever come round.
- Keep: used in the past month, or something you truly love
- Sell or pass on: still good, but you don't use it
- Throw away: broken, expired, or you've no idea why you kept it
- The undecided box: seal it and write the date on it. If three months pass without you opening it, pass it on
Paint: the best-value change per baht
The walls are the largest surface in the room, so changing their colour changes the backdrop to everything in the room at once. In a room with dingy walls, handprints and tape marks, a single day of clean new paint makes the existing furniture look better straight away, without buying anything new.
Before you buy paint, work out the right amount so none goes to waste. Take a 3×4 metre bedroom, 2.6 metres high. The perimeter is 14 metres; multiply by the 2.6 metre height and you get about 36.4 sq m of wall. Take off about 3.4 sq m for the door and window, leaving 33 sq m. Two coats make 66 sq m. A standard acrylic paint covers about 30–40 sq m per gallon per coat, so you'll need about two gallons, plus about 10% extra for touch-ups. If the walls are old plaster that has never been primed, or the surface is rough, count one extra coat of primer.
If your budget is very tight, you don't have to paint the whole room. Painting just the wall behind the bed or the wall behind the desk can change the room, using less than half the paint and taking less than half a day.
- Measure the walls: width × height of each wall
- Subtract the doors and windows
- Multiply by the number of coats (usually two)
- Divide by the coverage per gallon per coat
- Add about 10% extra
A three-colour palette for a minimal room on a budget
A minimal room doesn't have to be all white, but it does need few colours, and colours that get along. An easy formula is to split them into three roles: a main colour, about 60%, on the walls and large surfaces; a secondary colour, about 30%, in the furniture, bedding and curtains; and an accent, about 10%, in small things such as cushions, vases and picture frames.
The advantage of a small budget is that things you already own can become the secondary or accent colour. If you already have pale wood furniture, choose soft white or Oatmeal walls, and the wood will look warmer. If you own a lot of black or dark grey, pale grey or Linen walls will help tie the room together so it doesn't feel hard.
- Warm: Yogurt White walls + pale wood and linen + Coffee Bean
- Soft and easy: Oatmeal walls + Linen fabrics + Tea Leaf
- Clean and cool: Soft Gray walls + soft white fabrics + small pieces in black or dark grey
What to buy first, and what you can skip
When money is limited, ask yourself whether you'll use the thing every day. If you will, invest in a better one. If you'll use it now and then, or it's just there to look nice, it can wait. A minimal room only really looks good when the things that are always in view are of good enough quality.
Things to skip: matching decoration sets, unplanned special offers, and storage boxes bought before you know what you're going to store. Storage boxes are the answer after you've cleared out, not before.
- Buy first: a mattress and one good set of bedding
- Buy first: a cabinet or shelving that closes
- Buy first: warm white bulbs and one floor lamp
- Buy first: pale curtains that reach almost to the floor
- Skip: matching decoration sets, signs with slogans, several vases of fake flowers
- Skip: large furniture when you're not yet sure of the size
DIY ideas for a minimal room on a budget
Good DIY for a minimal room is work that takes things away rather than adding them: work that makes what you already own blend into the room, or makes the room look more deliberate without buying anything big.
Painting old furniture the same colour as the wall is a trick people overlook. An old chest of drawers painted the wall colour disappears into the room, leaving only its shape. Painting the lower half of the wall darker than the upper half hides chair marks and handprints very well, which suits a room that gets heavy use.
- Paint an old cabinet or shelf the same colour as the wall
- Paint the wall in two tones, darker on the lower half, with a straight line cut with masking tape
- Take off cabinet doors you don't use and replace them with a linen curtain
- Gather all your pictures into one large frame
- Change the cabinet handles to one plain style throughout the room
“Minimalism isn't about buying less. It's about being good at letting go.”
Frequently asked questions
What do I need to decorate a minimal room?
Less than you think. The important things are a good mattress, closed storage, warm white lighting, curtains and clean walls in one tone. The rest is things you use every day and truly love.
How do I start decorating a minimal room on a small budget?
Start by clearing out what you don't use, then repaint the walls. After that, buy the things you use every day first, such as the mattress, storage and lighting, and add decorations later, one piece at a time.
How many gallons of paint does a 3×4 metre room need?
With walls 2.6 metres high, after taking off the door and window, you have about 33 sq m. Two coats make 66 sq m. If the paint covers 30–40 sq m per gallon per coat, you'll need about two gallons, plus about 10% extra, and count primer separately if the walls need it.
What colours suit a minimal room?
Soft white, cream, pale beige and pale grey are popular main colours, with wood, linen and small dark pieces as the secondary and accent colours, following the 60-30-10 formula.
Does a minimal room have to be all white?
No. Any colour works as long as there are few colours and they go together. A minimal room in beige, warm grey or grey-green can be just as calm, and is often warmer than all white.
Colour on a screen never matches colour on a wall
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